Product Description

EXPERIENCE CHAPTER ONE OF THE FAMED PERSONA RPG SERIES! One of the most critically-acclaimed roleplaying franchises of all time, Shin Megami Tensei has recently arose to prominence in North America with the releases of Persona 3 and 4, two of the highest-rated releases in their respective years. Now, Atlus revisits the first chapter in the Persona saga on PSP (PlayStation Portable) system. Completely rebalanced and remade, SMT: Persona allows younger fans of the series to find out what everyone¿s been talking about for years, and gives long-time SMT supporters a wholly different take on an all-time classic. KEYFEATURES - Rebalanced, relocalized, remade - Fully re-translated and featuring all new musical compositions from Shoji Meguro, famed composer of Persona 3 and 4, SMT: Persona is the perfect example of how a remake should be done. This definitive version includes content never before seen in North America. - Enhanced for PSP - Reformatted to take advantage of the PSP hardware, this remake includes a new widescreen aspect ratio, redone music and sound, and all new animation, presenting the story better than ever before. - A unique, mature narrative in the grand tradition of the SMT series - Long known for its daring, often morally-charged stories, the SMT series has established itself as one of the premiere RPG series in terms of plot and characters, and SMT: Persona is no exception.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1458 in Video Games
• Brand: Atlus
• Model: PS-60009-0
• Published on: 2009-08-31
• Released on: 2009-09-22
• ESRB Rating: Teen
• Platform: Sony PSP
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .30 pounds

Features

• Fully re-translated and featuring all new musical compositions from Shoji Meguro, famed composer of Persona 3 and 4, SMT: Persona is the perfect example of how a remake should be done
• This definitive version includes content never before seen in North America
• Reformatted to take advantage of the PSP hardware, this remake includes a new widescreen aspect ratio, redone music and sound, and all new animation, presenting the story better than ever before
• Long known for its daring, often morally-charged stories, the SMT series has established itself as one of the premiere RPG series in terms of plot and characters, and SMT: Persona is no exception

Customer Reviews

Finally, a version of this game that I can enjoy!
Over a decade ago, at the tender age of 13, I purchased "Revelations: Persona" for the Playstation. The game received very good review scores, and the Playstation console was somewhat starved for Japanese RPGs in America at the time, so as a fan of the genre, I figured I couldn't go wrong.

What I didn't expect was just HOW different Persona would be from the standard JRPG, such as the Final Fantasy games. With a good localization and a user-friendly interface, the game could have helped me to overcome the initial culture shock that I experienced and enjoy a deep and unique role-playing experience.

Unfortunately, the translation/localization was beyond shoddy, and at times even offensive (one of the characters' ethnicity was changed to African-American for the US release - a change that was not handled with much tact), and the already intimidating interface was hampered by convoluted menus. Needless to say, the game didn't click with me at the time, and it wasn't long before I banished it to the back of my closet.

Fast forward over a decade, when after playing through Persona 2 and Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 FES (both EXCELLENT games), I decided to give the original Persona another shot. Although I was much more open-minded going in this time - and dedicated to finishing the game no matter what - the game's faults still stood out and made for a very frustrating experience. I got much further than I did when I first purchased the game, but I was still turned off by the horrible interfaces and clumsy translation. I put the game away, and turned my attention to the soon-to-be released Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4.

It's late 2009 now, and Atlus has released the definitive version of Persona for the PSP, promising a vastly improved localization and more user-friendly gameplay, along with a handful of other improvements. Is this version good enough to allow me to finally enjoy this game? In a word: YES!

First of all, the presentation is phenomenal. The game opens with a beautiful and imaginative intro that perfectly sets the tone for game. The actual in-game graphics haven't changed much, if even at all, and they are easily the weakest aspect of the game. The music (created by the composer of the music in Persona 3 and 4), on the other hand, is entirely new, and much more fitting, helping the game to establish its unique identity early on. The translation, as promised, is brand new, and exceptional overall.

The menu interface has been streamlined, making inventory management much less frustrating than it was in the original version of the game. Character customization now requires very little effort, and battles can be completed much more quickly. The process of creating Personas (a vital part of the game) has also been streamlined, allowing you to instantly view all the possible Personas that you can create.

As a huge fan of the Persona series, I'm thrilled to finally see a respectable version of the original game in English. To have the gameplay improved on top of the localization only adds to the already immense value of the game, making Persona one of the absolute "must buy" games for the PSP. I can proudly place this version of the game alongside its sequels on my shelves, while the original release will remain in the back of my closet, gathering dust.

Back to the Classics
This is a very good game under certain conditions. You have to like JRPGs first of all because if you already don't, this game wont convert you. Secondly, you have to appreciate old-school games in general, this is a first-person dungeon crawler with parts being in an isometric view, ISOMETRIC(does it get any more oldschool?). The last point was you have to appreciate old video game music, but they update the soundtrack, and it rocks. If you can get past the first two points, this is a gem of a game. The game play is simple, but not overly so. There are aspects of the game that are very addictive you may forget what you were doing in the first place and find yourself power leveling just to get better abilities. I wont really go into the technical aspects of the game since there are dozens of gameplay videos out there they you can view instead. The story is a little weak, even for the year it was created, but the tone and ambiance do compensate, and you wont get bored with it, it's just that they could have vastly improved the story and didn't. That is laterally the only complaint I have though, and this game is a must have in my book.

As good as the original, but with some small flaws
Persona / B001V7UX1W

Persona was the first game I ever played on the Playstation 1, and I had never seen anything quite like it - before or since. I had played, and loved, many "save the princess" medieval-flavored RPGs, but I had never seen an RPG like Persona - so dark and yet so steeped in the "real" world. The high school in Persona felt more real and immediate to me than any dozen or so fantasy worlds; little touches like the variant personalities of your friends (loner, snob, air-head) which superficially hid deeper, more human traits simply blew me away.

Really, there's nothing about Persona that I didn't love. The plot is masterfully dark and human, and I emphasized strongly with Mary, an ill girl who struggles with feelings of anger and hopelessness as the world passes her by. The soundtrack is absolutely gorgeous, and again takes a more modern, dark twist over the light-hearted tracks of this RPG's fantasy counterpart. Even little touches like the varied battle-shouts, actual guns (!) used in battle against the demons, and the hilarious contact system which allowed you to bully, bribe, and barter with your enemies blew me away.

When they announced the re-release of Persona on the PSP, I couldn't pre-order fast enough. Partly for the joy of taking my favorite game of all time on the plane with me, but *mostly* for the newly restored "Snow Queen Quest" which, as a child, I was always distraught that Atlas hadn't released with the original game. And, in many - perhaps, MOST - ways, this is a textbook example of exactly how to re-release a game... for the most part.

First, I was pleased to note that the story has not been altered or changed. The original translation has been replaced, which is usually a pet peeve of mine, but the new translation matches up pretty well to the story I'm familiar with. New hints are dropped at the beginning regarding the Snow Queen Quest, which I do appreciate as it makes the new quest more immersive and less of an "add-on". The world map has been upgraded to more closely resemble the world map in Persona 2, and as the world map in Persona 1 was the *only* thing I didn't like about the game, this change is for the best. Everything else is largely unchanged - the graphics are largely the same, and seem subtly 'brighter' and more vibrant. The game cut-scenes are absolutely gorgeous, although it does seem a bit surprising that captions aren't offered as a choice in this day and age - I guess deaf people don't play video games or they get to have a friend translate the spoken-words in the cut scenes.

Really, though, in most ways that matter, this is the game I knew and loved. The Snow Queen Quest is a welcome addition (although the difficultly level is nothing to sneer at, and you pretty much *have* to power level your way through the game, which can take some of the fun out of it). Annoyingly, you do have to perform a Guide Dang It series of conversations before the SQQ will open up - it's not something that anyone will stumble into, I'm afraid, much like the original Guide Dang It actions for getting Chris (which were largely *possible* to stumble into... as long as you spoke to everyone _once_, but didn't speak to certain people _twice_, and of course, you had to deliberately seek out party members in order to turn them down when they asked to join!).

And the mention of Chris segues me neatly into my translation complaints. I know I'm going to get dinged for this, but I preferred the American names of the characters to the Japanese names and I'm sorry to have those names lost. I can remember which character is 'Mark' and which character is 'Mary', but trying to assign gender in my brain between two equally unfamiliar names like 'Maki' and 'Masao' is difficult to perform on the fly. And expecting me to remember the differences between 'Yuki', 'Yuka', and 'Yuko' is just unreasonable, and I say this as someone who watches more anime than most, I would wager. Also, am I the only one who doesn't understand why game companies will translate, say, the description of spells, but not the actual NAME of said spells? It's all well and good to tell me that a spell is cure spell, but why change the name from "Cure" (the English name in the original) to "Dia"? Having to learn all these arbitrary changes makes battle slow and cumbersome ("Dia" - was that the spell that cures people or the spell that raises 'diamond' defense walls?) and for what purpose? Don't even get me *started* on the new Persona names. I was equally disappointed to see that the Americanization of the characters has been discarded - the African-American character has reverted back to Japanese, and all the blondes, brunettes, and redheads have black hair again, making it tricky to tell them apart in battle, given that everyone has an identical school uniform on.

I also have to register a complaint with the soundtrack changes - the original Persona 1 had the most intensely awesome soundtrack ever, but what's with this new stuff? Most of it is good and fine, but the battle music is bloody TERRIBLE and it never seems to change up. It sounds like a pop-song from the Britney Spears era and if you think that hearing "Hit Me Baby One More Time" or the Japanese equivalent Every. Single. Battle. won't get old after the first dozen battles, then bully on you, but I wasn't born with that kind of patience. Especially considering that the Persona games are kind of notorious for frequent battles.

Having now whined myself inside-out, this is still an awesome game. If you're new to the series, buy it and check it out - you won't be disappointed. If you're a long-time fan, buy it for the Snow Queen Quest...just remember to grind yourself silly before you enter the school. Oh, and I'll post the trigger events in the comments section here.

~ Ana Mardoll